Chef Redefines Old Cuisine

Emeril Lagasse worked for 1 1/2 years on his first cookbook, "Emeril's New New Orleans Cooking" (co-authored with Jessie Tirsch). In it are recipes -- about half developed for the book, the other half are items from his restaurant menu -- that redefine New Orleans cooking.

"There are restaurants here that haven't changed their menus in 100 years," says Lagasse. Indeed, many people think of New Orleans cooking as simply the heavy Creole and Cajun foods that the city's premiere restaurants served for decades.

Lagasse's two restaurants, Emeril's and Nola, pay homage to that New Orleans cooking heritage, but are wonderfully infused with Asian, Portuguese and New Mexican inspiration.

Combine the oil, tomatoes, onions, cilantro, garlic, chili powder, red pepper, cumin, salt and black pepper in a large skillet over medium heat and cook for 6 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the mixture to steep for 10-15 minutes.

Prepare the saffron linguine, and cover to keep warm.

Turn the heat back up to high under the skillet, and when the mixture bubbles, add the lobster. Cook, shaking the skillet, for 3

minutes. Remove from heat. Makes about 2 cups.

To serve, divide the pasta into 4 portions and mound it in 4 shallow bowls. Add 1/2 cup of the lobster and sauce, and sprinkle each serving with 1 tablespoon of the Parmesan and 1 tablespoon of the green onions.

Combine the Parmesan, bread cumbs, and butter until thoroughly blended, and press the mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.

Heat the oil in a medium skillet over high heat. Add the onions and the green and red bell peppers and saute, stirring and shaking the skillet, for 2 minutes. Stir in the salt and pepper, saute for 1 minute and remove from heat.

Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese with the eggs in a large bowl until very thick and frothy, for about 4 minutes. Beat in the cream, Gouda, the sauteed vegetables and the smoked salmon, and beat until thoroughly incorporated and creamy (about 2 minutes).

Pour the filling over the crust in the springform pan and bake until firm, for about 1 hour, 15 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature; if you refrigerate the cheesecake before serving, remove from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature, for about 1 hour.

Prepare the green onion coulis.

To serve, cut in wedges with a warm knife and serve each wedge with 2 or 3 tablespoons of coulis.

Place the green onions, parsley, shallots and garlic in a food processor or blender and puree. Add the eggs, salt and pepper, and continue the process. With the machine running, stream in the olive oil slowly until it's thoroughly incorporated. Serve immediately